Profitability Of Rice Production Systems In South East Nigeria

The profitability of the various rice producing systems in South East Nigeria was compared in this study.A series of structured questionnaire was distributed to 120 rice farmers who were chosen through a three stage random sample technique..Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. While objective ii was studied using cost and return analysis, objective i was analyzed using percentage responses and a frequency distribution table. The majority of respondents, regardless of the production system, were elderly, educated, small-scale, and utilized capital, fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides, and seed in their rice farming. These findings were based on the socioeconomic characteristics of the respondents. Profitability varied among rice producers in lowland, highland, and swamp rice cultivation methods. The results of comparing the various production methods revealed that the swamp production system had the highest net return, at N715,677.9 per hectare, with a 30.6% return on investment. This means that for every N1 invested in rice cultivation within the system, N30.6 was returned. Farmers that used the upland and lowland production strategies saw net returns per hectare of N606, 916 and N642,377.9, respectively. Furthermore, the lowland and upland production systems yielded returns on investment of 27.7% and 26.7%, respectively. According to this, there was a N26.7 return for every N1 invested in upland rice farming and a N27.6 return for every N1 spent on lowland rice cultivation utilizing a production method. To improve the living conditions of rice farmers, the best possible resource combination must be found in order to maximize profits.